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Klinsmann: Gil "has a lot, a lot of potential"

Klinsmann: Gil "has a lot, a lot of potential"

U.S. Men’s National Team Manager Jurgen Klinsmann was at Rio Tinto Stadium for RSL’s 3-0 win over Toronto FC on Saturday, scouting U.S. internationals Kyle Beckerman, Tony Beltran, Luis Gil, Nick Rimando and Michael Bradley ahead of this Wednesday’s friendly against Mexico in Phoenix.

Klinsmann was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his schedule at halftime, stopping by the ABC 4 booth for a quick interview with Bill Riley and Brian Dunseth. Dunny spoke with Klinsmann about 20-year-old RSL midfielder Luis Gil, asking the USMNT boss what it would take for a young player like Gil to impress enough to earn a spot on this summer’s World Cup roster.

Here’s what Klinsmann had to say. You can check out his entire halftime interview above.

“Well, he already impresses us otherwise we wouldn’t have called him in for the January camp and wouldn’t have given him his first cap,” Klinsmann said. “He’s a kid that has a lot, a lot of potential, and so we need to help him to grow, help him to understand what it takes to raise his game to the next level. He knows that he has to learn to move more, and also always be aware defensively once he loses the ball. We want him to have that spirit to take people on because that’s his gift, to play his strengths, so we will keep watching him. We will see him improve, and he himself kind of decides the quickness of everything. Obviously the quicker younger players shoot through and show their qualities the better it is individually for them, but if it takes a slower pace then so be it, no problem.”